Lady Tigers' season ends following loss to Kuna

The softball season came to a close for the Mountain Home Lady Tigers last Wednesday with their 11-1 loss to Kuna in the District III 4A softball tourney at Kuna.

Bishop Kelly 12, Mountain Home 1

The Lady Tigers went into the district tourney as the number eight seed, opening last Monday against top-seeded Bishop Kelly.

The Lady Knights had swept Mountain Home during the regular season, 11-1 and 16-4.

Bishop Kelly jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one and rolled to a 12-1 five-inning win.

"You've got to give Bishop Kelly a lot of credit," said Lady Tigers' softball coach Ron Nicolosi. "They hit the ball really well, and we struggled a little bit, but Bishop Kelly did what they did."

Mountain Home had just four hits off Bishop Kelly's Taylor Faulkner. Kelly Elliott had two hits, including a double. Madi Karst and Heather Adams had the other hits. Adams suffered the loss.

Mountain Home 6, Emmett 3

Monday's loss at Bishop Kelly put the Lady Tigers in the consolation bracket on last Tuesday, against the number four seed Emmett, at Emmett. Playing one of their best ball games of the season, Mountain Home rallied from a 3-0 deficit to end the Lady Huskies season.

Emmett loaded the bases with no one out in the first inning, but the Lady Tigers got out of the inning with just one run scoring for the Lady Huskies.

The same thing happened in the bottom of the second, and once again, Mountain Home managed to escape with giving up just one run.

Emmett's Chauncey McWilliams homered to lead off the Emmett third to put the Lady Huskies up 3-0, but Mountain Home's Heather Adams held Emmett scoreless the rest of the way.

Mountain Home finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning when they scored a run without the benefit of a hit, and then broke it open with two out in the sixth, scoring five runs to take a 6-3 lead.

The Mountain Home defense held tough the rest of the game and stayed alive in the tourney with a 6-3 win.

"That's what we've been waiting to see all year from the girls," Coach Nicolosi said after the game. "We made a couple of mistakes that costs us early, but not once today did they give up. We just talked at the beginning, 'Hey let's just play one more day,' and we decided we're try to play one more day, and we did. It's quite an emotional thing right now, let me tell you. I can't tell you how proud I am.

"Heather's knee was starting to hurt, and she gutted it out, and how about that triple by C.J. -- it was unbelievable," the coach added. "It was a great win."

The Lady Tigers were outhit 11-5 but made the most of their hits. Kelly Elliott had two hits, and C.J. Bish had a two-run triple that tied the game. Taylor Reed an Madi Karst both had RBI-singles and Maeghan Pomerantz also had an RBI. Heather Adams went the distance to record her fifth win of the season.

Skyview 11, Mountain Home 1

The Emmett win put the Lady Tigers against Skyview last Wednesday at Kuna. Skyview, like Emmett had swept the Lady Tigers during the regular season, but the last time at Skyview, on April 23, it was an 11-8 loss.

Skyview scored twice in both the first and second innings to go up 4-0.

Mountain Home scored a run in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 4-1. It would be the closest the Lady Tigers would come as Skyview scored once in the fourth and took advantage of four errors in the fifth to score six runs to end it 11-1.

"Obviously, we would have liked to have been on the other end of the stick, but, you know what, all in all, it was a good year," Coach Nicolosi said after the game. "The girls grew so much and we've seen it. We talk about the game within the game, and they really brought that, and they learned a lot. I can't say anything but how proud I am of them."

Mountain Home managed just three hits off Skyview's Kylee Kennel, as most hard-hit balls were either caught or turned into outs. Maeghan Pomerantz, Kira Baker and Ashley Sessions had hits, and C.J. Bish knocked in Mountain Home's run.

Coach Nicolosi loses five seniors on the girls team but admits that he's already looking forward to next year.

"How do you replace experience, and how do you replace leadership," the coach said. "It's tough to do. We're going to rely on our returners to be able to bring whoever we get next year into the fold into our game, so they can learn it quicker and so they can be ready to go as soon as the first pitch comes next year."

The Lady Tigers finished the season with a 6-19 overall record.